


Ben had some courage

by ghostynoah



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M, Trashstack, ben be a helpless gay, bev gets the goth gf she deserves, kind of no pennywise au but also georgie isnt there, steddie and hanbrough being cute in the bg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-06-08 22:25:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15253386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostynoah/pseuds/ghostynoah
Summary: Ben and Mike were sitting outside at a lunch table watching Bill and Richie throw around a frisbee. They both sat with their elbows on the table, their hands holding up their heads."He's so cute." Ben groaned."I know." Mike had sighed dreamily. Ben rolled his eyes."Okay you starring at Bill is distracting my starring at Richie." He complained. Mike now rolled his eyes.





	Ben had some courage

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully people will actually uhhh read this cause like no one appreciates trashstack

Ben clearly remembers the day he met Bill, Stan, Eddie, and Richie. He had been pushing himself to escape Bowers and his goons, the 'H' carved into his stomach bleeding onto his shirt, and he had fallen down in the stream right where the four of them were messing around in the barrens. 

"Holy shit, what happened to you?!" Richie had exclaimed, stepping forward to get a closer look at Ben.

The four of them had been gracious enough to ride Ben to the pharmacy, Stan, Eddie, and Bill going inside to get supplies to patch Ben up. Richie had been left outside with Ben.

"Glad I got to meet you before you died." He had said. Ben looked up at him, his expression a subtle embodiment of "What the fuck dude?" Richie looked off to the side awkwardly, leaving them in silence. 

Since the start of Ben's friendship with the losers he had had an admiration for Richie. Richie was loud, but the smartest kid in his class. Richie was super outgoing, and that was what Ben had always wanted to be.

Over the years that admiration turned into more. Ben couldn't help himself, especially as they grew up. 

The first times Ben remembers really thinking of Richie in any sort of romantic way was the summer before freshman year. It was like out of nowhere puberty had hitten Richie like a truck. He was sure it was more gradual then that, but he had never really noticed it. 

It was like all of a sudden RichIe had grown into his big front teeth, his jaw had squared out, and his hair looked neater. His voice had also dropped considerably. But most noticeably Richie had grown so much taller. Ben couldn't help but feel like he was going to literally melt. 

It didn't help when Richie had shown up to the barrens one day in a new outfit. Ben swore he nearly fainted when he saw Richie approach the group in black ripped jeans, one of his classic Hawaiian shirts actually buttoned up and tucked in, and a red and white varsity jacket. 

Now, in the middle of the loser’s junior year, Ben knew for sure he had a giant crush on Richie. The only person he had told was Mike, who he considered to be who he was closest to in the group. 

It was lunch time now, and Ben and Mike were sitting outside at a lunch table watching Bill and Richie throw around a frisbee. They both sat with their elbows on the table, their hands holding up their heads.

"He's so cute." Ben groaned.

"I know." Mike had sighed dreamily. Ben rolled his eyes.

"Okay you starring at Bill is distracting my starring at Richie." He complained. Mike now rolled his eyes. 

Beverly then approached the table with her lunch tray, glancing at Bill and Richie as she sat down across from Mike. 

"Do they have to do that every day?" She asked. Ben and Mike both shrugged. 

Eddie and Stan sat down next to Bev soon after. Stan took a folded up napkin out of his shirt pocket and laid it in his lap. 

"Oh, I forgot to ask you how that test went, babe." Eddie spoke up, turning to Stan. 

Stan shrugged. "It was okay I guess." 

Eddie pressed a quick kiss to Stan's cheek. "I'm sure you did great." Stan smiled softly. 

Bill and Richie came jogging over to the table, Bill taking a seat next to Mike and Richie next to Ben. 

"Hey! No one got hit in the face with a frisbee this time." Mike pointed out, shooting a look to Bill

"I don't hit Richie that much, okay." Bill defended.

"You literally do." Richie retorted. Bill rolled his eyes, Mike chuckling and squeezing his hand. 

Then Beverly's girlfriend, Gina, finally arrived and took a seat next to Bev.

Bev swung an arm around her shoulder. "Why are you late literally every day?" 

"Mrs. Miller always lets us out so damn late we're always late to lunch." Gina grumbled.

Richie tapped Ben’s arm, Ben turning to see Richie had put to baby carrots into his mouth to act as faux tusks. Ben smiled brightly. Richie leaned back, putting his arms to his chest, and moved his head around, flopping his hands around. A string of laughter slipped out of Ben’s mouth, and the rest of the gang exchanged a glace, almost telepathically saying “It’s really not that funny.”

"Hey are we still on for my house after school?" Bill asked, popping a baby carrot in his mouth. The group nodded. 

Bill's parents always worked late, so he usually had the entire afternoon to himself, so once a week he took the opportunity to have the gang over. 

After the bell rung, they all met up outside the school and piled into Bill's car. It was always pretty cramped in Bill's car, Bill in the divers seat, Mike in the passengers, and Bev, Gina, Eddie, Stan, Ben, and Richie all in the back. Gina sat in Bev's lap, Stan in Eddie's, and Richie in Ben's. 

Ben was always bright red on car rides, with Richie sat in his lap. Richie would be talking to Bev about something, and Ben would take his eyes from the car door on his side to Richie's face. He always looked so adorable, especially when he was giggling at something Bev had just said. 

Richie’s eyes met Ben’s as he was in the middle of talking, and a blush spread across both of their cheeks. Stan and Eddie exchanged a look.

They pulled into Bill's driveway, and all got out with a surprisingly little amount of difficulty.

"We got more chips." Bills said as he unlocked his front door.

"Oh hell yeah!" Richie exclaimed, running through Bill's door right when he had it open. Everybody else heard the sounds of a door banging, and loud crumpling. They walked into the kitchen to see Richie shoveling chips in his mouth, the pantry door wide open. They all shook their heads lightly, and went and sat on Bills couch.

"Who's turn was it to pick?" Mike asked as Richie speed walked into the living room, chip bag in hand. 

"Mine!" He said through a mouth full of chips, sitting next to Ben on the floor in front of the couch.

"Seriously?" Stan sighed, making Richie laugh through his chips.

"I'm gonna make a great selection!" Richie said as he swallowed his snack. 

"Last time we had to watch Sharknado." Stan glared at Richie. 

"And guess what we're watching this time!"

"Oh hell no!"

"Oh hell yes!" Richie grabbed the apple tv remote, laughing.

"Kill me now." Stan laid his head on Eddie's shoulder. 

Richie cued up Sharknado 2.

"Sharknado isn't that bad." Bill said. "You'll live." 

"It literally is." Stan groaned. Everyone else nodded, excluding Richie. 

Stan cuddled into Eddie's side as the movie began. "I'm just going to nap." 

Halfway through the movie, everyone but Ben and Richie had fallen asleep. 

Richie looked around at his napping friends. "This is so unfair.” Richie said. “I picked a perfectly entertaining movie.”

Ben chuckled. Richie readjusted himself so he could lay his head in Ben's lap. He had done this before, but Ben still slowly turned a shade of red. 

"You're my only real friend, Ben." Richie sighed dramatically. 

"I'm the only one who can really deal with your shit." Ben giggled. 

"You really are." There was silence for a moment.

"To be real though," Richie started, "Obviously everyone else is amazing and supportive, you're just kind of... more there, you know..." He finished, trailing off. A soft smile crept on Ben's face. 

Richie turned to face Ben, propping himself up on one elbow, his body draped over Ben's legs. "You always laugh at my jokes and stuff. And you never seem annoyed with me." 

"Cause I’m not. I mean, you're amazing, Richie. I could never really be annoyed with you." Ben spoke softly.  
A blush spread across Richie's face. "Thanks, Ben." He spoke in almost a whisper. 

"Yeah." Ben whispered, barely audible. They found themselves gravitating towards each other, their faces quickly only inches apart.

Ben found, for the first time in the last, what? Three or so years he had liked Richie Tozier, he had some courage. He closed the gap between him and Richie, and his lips touched Richie's softly. Richie pressed harder into the kiss, his hand finding its way onto Ben's shoulder.

Ben felt light headed, like the world had frozen.

Sadly, it hadn't, cause he heard a loud "Holy shit!" To his left, making Ben and Richie break the moment to turn to see Bev with her mouth gaping open.

A wide smile grew on her face as the rest of the group woke up. Richie rolled over on the floor, his face in his hands. Ben just froze, his face the brightest red it had ever been.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. 

"What happened?" Eddie asked, his hand wiping down his face, trying to blink the sleep away. 

"Nothing!" Richie shouted quickly. 

"Ben and Richie just-" Bev started before she was cut off my Richie yelling "Nothing!" again. 

Ben's face was now in his hands. 

"They kissed!" She finished. 

The sleepy rest of the group all shot up.

"What!?" Several of them exclaimed.

"Are you really that surprised?" Mike raised an eyebrow.

"Well-" Eddie bit his lip. "Actually no."

Ben and Richie groaned, exchanging an embarrassed look, both laughing.


End file.
